AA BREAKDOWN

Mandy Murfin called the AA, of which she had been a member for two years, when her two-year-old son, Ben, accidently locked himself in her car. The youngster was trapped in the Vauxhall Vectra, which was parked outside the family home, for 90 minutes. Mrs Murfin called the AA and was told she was not covered for problems at home and that she would have to upgrade her breakdown cover, at an extra cost of £79, before a patrol would visit her. She refused and eventually a friend freed Ben. Four days later, the AA admitted it should have sent a mechanic.

Now Mrs Murfin has received a letter offering her £20 Marks & Spencer vouchers and a written apology. She said, "When I saw the vouchers I laughed. I have cancelled the policy with them, but if the AA had given me a year's free membership I would have stayed with them because that would have made amends for what happened." The letter also said that following a discussion between the operator and a manager the AA was prepared to send a mechanic to free Ben, but Mrs Murfin had hung up before he could be deployed.

The letter from the AA read - "Our call handler advised you that you did not subscribe to the Home Start service and that in order to receive service, it would be necessary for you to add the Home Start entitlement to your membership. You were not happy to do this and our records show that in view of the situation, the call handler placed your call on hold and discussed the matter with her manager. Her manager agreed that, in the circumstances, we should provide service as a one-off courtesy, but when the call handler returned to the phone, you had gone."

Mrs Murfin said, "If I apparently hung up then why didn't they ring me back because surely they've got my telephone number on file." The AA were not obliged to help Mrs Murfin. It wasn't a breakdown, she didn't have Home Start and it wasn't their fault she left the keys in her car. Why should she feel it's the AA's fault for her misfortune and expect compensation?

David Barker was on his way to a football match in his Renault Scenic when he died three miles from home in Sheffield. His family had to remove the car after he was taken by ambulance to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The AA's breakdown service refused to respond because his death meant his membership had lapsed. An operator told relatives they could only provide roadside assistance if one of them agreed to join.

Mr Barker's brother-in-law Leonard Douglas said, "I rang to see if they would come out and start the car but they told me we would have to rejoin as David had died. Then the operator said she would speak to a manager and hung up. It is absolutely disgusting. We were speechless and couldn't believe they could be so cruel." Mr Barker was going to pick up another relative to go to a Sheffield Wednesday match and when he failed to arrived family members went looking for him.

They believed his car may have broken down, but when they located it the emergency services were still in attendance, although he had been taken to hospital. Mr Douglas's wife Joan said, "The AA is supposed to be the fourth emergency service and David was a member for years and this is how they treat members." An AA spokesman said, "The AA was wrong to refuse service and did not show the compassion and sensitivity we expect in what was clearly an emotional situation."